Elevator-gate-closing means.



PATENTED JAN. 1, 1907.

L a T i B E H s. Q nm T E E E s a Sw N M a Mw 1 .M HMH www mom KEN WAMGH GMM Tm HA E L E., 4M .4 QN'. 0 4 8 nw N A UUR/VE N0- SLi-0,3494:`PATENTED JAN.I1, 1907.

o. W. KIRSCH. BLEVATOR GATE CLOSING MEANS.,

' APPLIATION FILED APR. 2.1906.

' 2 SHBETS-SHEBT 2.

UNITED sTATEs PATENT oEEIcE.

CHARLES W. KRSCH, OF CHlCAGO, ILLINOIS.

ELEVATOFl-GATE-OLOSING MEANS.,

No. saoae.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Jan. 1, 1907.-

Application filed April 2, 1906. Serial N0. 309.527.

I T0 .ar/Z whom t may concern:

Be it known that I, CHARLES W. Kissen, a citizen of the United States,residing at Chlcago, in the county of Cookland State of Illinois, haveinvented certain new and useful i gate may have been carelessly left o nas to render accident to a passenger ossi le, and, furthermore, toinsure closure o these-called' Meeker doors employed on'freight-elevator shaft to `guard against s read of'fu'e orV accident;and it -consists in t e features of construction and combinations ofparts hereinafter fully described and-claimed. f

In the accompanying drawings, illustrating my invention, Figure l is adiagrammatic view showing elevator-gates disposedon ya# rious floors ofa building, circmtcontrolling means actuatedthereby, a commutatorcoacting with said circuit-controlling means to close an electriccircuit through a solenoid;- and trip'mech'anism controlled by saidsolenoid and adapted to throw', gate-closiri 3'5" means into action.Fig. 2 is a detail vertica section of a gate-latch suited to my purposeand circuit-controlling means actuated thereby. ,Figi is a fragmentarydetail plan sec tion of the commutator on the line 3 of` Fig;

transverse section fo -the commutator on the f line 4 4 of Fig. 3i `F1g.5.isa.de tail plan section on the lure- 5 5 of Figf showing a collar'disposed on thecable by mealisof whichthe gate is closed. .Fig-6 isafragmentary :de-

tail side 'elevation offsaid doorsclosin'g cable showing the-manner ofen aging :the .co`r y connecting the gate therewltln Fig. 7 is a viewsimilar to Fig. 1 showing my invention as applied to Meeker doors. Fi .Sis a' detail vertlcal section'of the circuitfc osing means employedinconnection With 'said Meeker doors.

It is desirable in order to avoid accidents and spread cfa-fire, thatthe 'closure of ele-y vater-gates .should be assured, as `otherwise suchgates are entirely useless. The closure of such gates is mainly soughtby'both casualtyr and fire. insurance companies; and the object of myinvention is therefore to provide simple, cheap, and efficient means foreiiecting such closure in theevent `thatthe operator should omit toperform this part of `his duty', but which so long -asproper care isexercised by the operator remains inac'tiv( and out of operativerelation t the elevatorgates.

mutator or traveling circuit-closing means actuated in accordancewith'the movements ofthe fcar and adapted to close at one point anelectric circuit through a solenoid, which I a i n l My sald inventioncomprises, bneily, a comis maintained normally open at another point bycircuit-closing meanscontrolled by theposition of the elevator-gate andclosing the circuit atv said point when the -ga'te is is maintainedopen.Thesolenoid controls tri mechanism, which in turn .controls a ,openediThe commutator 1s so arranged t at when thecarvstops at `a iloorthecircuit ca le, on which a weight is suspended and Which is connectedwith each of the elevatorgates, so that when saidcable is released and-drops it will draw taut all of the .cords con- `necting the same withvthe gates, and thus any open gate lwill beclosed. 1f 4the gate is must,in order to open another gate, raise said Weight, and to-avoid thisadditional ex As a' consel 'left openatany iloor ai'ter the car starts,thecircuit Will be closed to energize the solenoid, and thus release thecable.

" quence of his carelessness the operator ertion' his. memory andcaution Will be trained, andso long as he exercises care themechanismgfwillremain out of operation and will Waste no powernorsu'ffei Wear and tear.

v In `the,acconi'pa'nying drawingsl have illustrated ya suitableembodiment of mechanism adapted tothe plurpose ofmy invention, the samebeing s own more diagram-` matically thanl with particular attention todetails. ofconstruction, as any mechanism suitable to1 my purposeisincluded in my i.n vention.

The gates V1' and 2 are each provided with av suitable latch 3, the dog4 of which enters and engages the casing 5, disposed on the framing. Inthe latter a bell-crank lever is disposed in-the path of said dog 4 andIismaintained thereby at one limit fof its movement against the action ofa spring 7, engaging the free end IOO IIO

of one ofvits arms. In the 'path'oi the .free

end of the other arm of said lever 6 the free end of a light liatv sring S is disposed, the latter being mounte upon the free end of a.'proJection 9'in said casing 5 and'being connected with a terminal 10.Disposed 1n the path of the free end of ,said spring 8 is the tree endofanother lat spring 11, mounted Ona projection, 12 in 'said casingandconnected With a terminal 13. Both said terminals and said springsare insulated from said casing and from the latch in any I,suitable Theterminal is connected', by means of a Wire 14 with a solenold 15',-disposed inthe upper en vof the elevator-shaft, and said ter-V minal 13is connected, by means of a wire 16,

i with terminals 17 on a commutator 18, also disposed in the u per. endof the elevatorshaft. A termina strip 19 on said commu-l tator isconnected,by means of a Wire 20, with onev side of a source of energy21, the otherside of which is connected, by meansof a Wire .latterisgeared to, said sheave.

the said clutch including 7a spring-pressed block 31, between which anda rigid projec- ,t1on32 on said carria e said chain is clamped.

The movement'of said carriage in either direction is united. by means ofadjustable cols` lar/SL33 onfsaidguide-rods25. Alternating with.Said-tenninals 1-7 are what I will term daadblocks 34, which, servevmerely yas guides for one arm of the brush 24 between the intervals. ofits engagement with said ter-v minals 17'.v The latter and the rearingwith aid sheave 26 are relatively so is osed' and y, arrangedl that whenthe car-floor is ush with,

er'nearlysdwith any Hoor ofthe building the y position ofthe ycarriagewill be such that the rush 24 is in Contact with none of'said ter-Aminals 17 butwhen said car-locr is disposed `bmahy 2,4 willI be inContact with one said Q o said terminals 1.7, and 'thus close thecircuit bee a few 'feet above any licor ofthe building tween the sameand. the terminal` Strip` 19.

Die osedinthe upper endy of'- said elevatorsha .is a shaft 35, on whicha sprocket- Wheel 3,6 iS mounted, the latter being rigid with arathetswhe'el- 37,cadaptod to revolve there* with A. dog 38 1smaintained normally in engagement with the said ratehet-wheel 37byrneansof 'a tension-spring- 39 and serves tri-hold said ratchet andsprocket against revolution in one direction. Said dog is connectef'lWith the armature 40 of said solenoid l5, which serves,when the latteris energized, to actuate said dog 38 a ainst the action of said spring39 to throw t e same Vout of engagement with said ratchet-Wheel. Trainedover said. sprocket-wheel 36 is a sprocketchain 41, carrying a Weight42,at one end and connected at itsfother end With a cable 43, suspendedtherefrom and upon the lower end ofwbich a Weight 44, heavier than saidWeight 42, is suspended, there being preferably a dash-pot 45 disposedin the path of said Weight 44 to'cushion the fall thereof. At intervalscorresponding to the number and hei ht of the floors of the building'thesaid cab e 43 carries split collars 46 clamped thereon and which areadapted to engage rings 47, through which said cable passes, said ringsbeing each disposed'u on one end oi' a cord 48, connected at, its ot erend with the one of said-elevaton'gates, said cords being trained overidlers 49, supported in proper position on tbe Walls of theelevator-shafts relatively to the gates and said cords. Said cords aresuiliciently long to permit the gates to be opened fully and are thenysubstantially taut, the rinvs 47 being 'then in engagement With 'thesaid collars 46.

' The' operation is as follows: If

force the 'bell-,crank lever 6 over, so that the springS will be forcedinto contact with the spring-11. As soon as the elevator-car travels ashort distance above or .below any floor of the building the circuitWill be Vcl'osed'rrom a terminal 17 to the terminal strip 1 9 andthuscomp-leted, thereby energizing the solenoid *15, releasing theratchet-wheel 37, and

the gate 1 .is left open or partially open, the circuit fromthe'solenoid 15 to a terminal 17 Will be closedA by lreason of the factthat the spring 7 Will Ico thereby causingv said cable 43 to be drawn` Idown by the Weight 44. As said cable moves downwardly it will draw allcords taut, and thus the gate or gates open at this time will beclosed', and as soon asl all are closed the IIC:

circuit. will obviously be again opened. The

downward movement of said cable will be completed before the brush 24will have 'passed the terminal 17, through which the circuit wasclosed'. The Weight 42 acts as a counterweight, so that When any'cf thegates is again opened and the' cable 43 andweight 44 raised said Weight42 will serve to return said ratohet-Whee 37 to its normal posltion,

where it will be again maintained by the dog 38., as will be obvious.The rings 47 willl serve'to maintain those cords 48 ,tant which areconnected withv the gates remaining closed dur-ing the time that saidcable 43 is.l

being raised, thus preventing the slack in said cords 48 from dependingWhere entan glement with the collars 46 is liable to occur.'

said rings being each iny turn raised as each gato iS again opened, andwhen such gates are closed by the operator theslack in said to saidsupporting means, an electrimcircuit cords will be disposed between saidgates and controlling said releasing means, an Fircuit- 5 5 said idlers49. ,he num'ber of said terminals closing means controlled by the gatessind the, 17 corresponds with the number of elevatorcar and disposedinoperative -re'lationto said 5 gates or oors of the buildingy Therictional circuit to control the same. 4 enga ement oft the carriage 23with the i 2j Automatic elevator-'gate-closirig means 'sproc et-chain 28serves, in conu'nction with comprising electrically-controlled meansnpr- 6o said collars 33 on the guide-ro s 25, to automally maintainedouto operative relatiorr'to matically adjustthe position of saidcarriage 'the gates, a normally opencircuit xcontrolling i: wit-brelationlto said sprocket-chain in the the same, circuit-closingvmeanscontrolled by levent that the creepingfof the cable 27 on the gates, andcircuit-closing iieansf conthe s heave 26 should Lcause said carriage toltrolled by the car and coacting with said `irst- 6 5 lose partofitsmovemfnt in either direction. namedl circuit-closing means to throwthe Simiiar readjusting means are well known. saidelectrically-controlled means into opernFig.-17 Ihaveillnstratedmyinvention as ative relation to said gates to close `the same.appliedft'o lthe vertically-ernoving or Meeker 3. Elevator-gate-closingmeans compris- "fdoorsgenei'aliyemployedon'freight-elevator ingelectrically-controlled' gate-closing) de- 7o s'haftsij In plying yinvention to doors vices normally maintained out of operative t s` el'"substitute for the bell-cranio relation to the gates, a normally opencircnit zo' le 0 "pivotally supported becontrolling the same, travelingcircuit-closing 11d-,having 1a cam-arm 51', means controlled by the carand adapted to nl thehdoor55fthe other arm and circuit-closing meanscontrolled by the being adapted to engage the gates and adapted to closesaid circuitat d force'the `same into contact another point when a gateis opened, said cir- 1'1, 'When the door' is opened cuit when closed atboth points being adapted @nastri sa "Wiihjt "Spring,

ands mfl.,released-.from engagement to throw'said gate-closing devicesinto voper- 8o with rejection 53 or vthe anifrictionative relation tothe open gate to close 'tbe rollI ,is'osed'at the free end'thereoi.same.

3o The d v,djprogections 53 are horizontally dis- 4.Elevator-'gate-elosing means -compris- V Pose Q nfu per ends of theupper doors 55 ing a supported member, coacting means dis- Iandlonfbptii" 'des thereof and are' provided posed thereon and on saidgates to close the` 85 adjacent-their free endswith openings latter whensaid supported member is rethrought, lhiGhthe cables 57 pass, therebeing leased, electricallycontrolled supporting 5 5 two'ofv'tle'iiatter,which operate simultanemeans disposed in operative relation to ythe,

ously. nories ond lwith the cable 43 besaid. supported member, anelectric circuit fore des ribedi, ln all other details the 'connormallyo pen at two points controlling said 9o struction andgioperation of thedevice as apsupporting means, circuit-closing meansconpliedtofidoorsfgof this character correspond Vtrolled byv said' gatesfor closing said circuit 4o with thefs'ameasapplied to passenger-e evaatone point when a gate is opened, and travtor gatesyifitif the'exception: tliatlthecords Y eling circuit-closing means controlledb'yffthe 48, ringsjl idlers .49 are omitted, and. movements ofthe car toclose said circuit 'at 95 the collars re broughtintodirectiengageanother point, both said circuitfclosing 53 when themeans coacting to cause said 'supported mem- 45 cables--'are'rleased d,i ber to be released when a gate is o en after I clainiiasf'myinventiothe elevator passes aiioor in either irection. 1

, LA devicejof the kind' specified comprisn testimony whereof Iy havesigned-'my tot ingwaysupported member, gateoperatino vname in presenceoi'` two subscribingtwitmcalis'd'" osed inoperative relation to sainesses, y 1 r 5c lsupported member, lsupporting means dis'- CHARLES W,KIRSCH. V

osed in operativ-erelation to said sup ort- Witnessesi, v

ed member, lectrically-actuated re eas. RUDOLPH-WM. Lo'rz, ing meansdisposed in operative relation Lne MITCHELL.

a. l' n n u f asring`52 in the path of a Aclose said circuit at onepoint ait-intervals, 75

